1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control panel of a home appliance, and more particularly, to a button assembly loaded in the control panel.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a control panel assembly is provided to a home appliance to instruct an operation of the home appliance and to display an operational state thereof. The control panel assembly consists of a panel unit exposed to a user and a board held in the panel unit. Switches electrically connected to a control device, display device, and the like are mounted on the board, and various mechanical switches turning on/off the electrical switches on the board are provided to the panel unit. The mechanical switches include dials, sliders, push buttons, and the like. Specifically, a specific push button in installed in the panel unit to be pressed to turn on/off a specific function whenever pressed.
A general push button consists of a button body provided to the panel unit to be movable upward and downward, an elastic member installed between the button body and the panel unit to elastically support the button body, and a bar member provided to the button body to turn on/off a switch on the board by a user's force working on the button body. The bar member is provided to a central part of the button body. When the button body is pressed, the bar member is moved downward together with the button body to push the corresponding switch.
It is a recent tendency that an illumination function is added to the button to be easily found in the dark. However, the bar member hinders a luminous body from being installed at the above-explained general button. Even if the luminous body is installed to the button, the interference with the bar member or other parts of the button makes it difficult to illuminate the button body effectively.